1. Technical Field
This invention relates to vehicle article carriers, and more particularly to a vehicle article carrier incorporating a locking mechanism which allows a user to simultaneously place both bracket members of the article carrier in locked and unlocked positions by manually engaging a single actuating member at one side of the vehicle article carrier.
2. Discussion
Vehicle article carriers are used in a wide variety of applications to transport a variety of articles above an outer body surface of the vehicle. Such vehicle article carriers typically include a pair of slats which are fixedly mounted to the outer body surface of the vehicle, a pair of bracket members slidably disposed on the slats and a cross bar disposed between the bracket members so as to be supported above the outer body surface by the bracket members. In some applications two cross bars are employed, with the second cross bar being secured either fixedly to the slats or being adjustably secured via its own pair of bracket members disposed slidably upon the slats.
Each bracket member used in most vehicle article carrier systems typically includes some form of locking mechanism with an actuating member for placing the locking mechanism in a locked or unlocked position. When the locking mechanism of each bracket member is in its unlocked position, both bracket members may be moved slidably along the slats to allow the cross bar therebetween to be repositioned as desired along the slats. The obvious drawback to this arrangement is that when the user desires to reposition the cross bar, first one of the bracket members must be unlocked and then the user must walk around to the opposite side of the vehicle to unlock the other bracket member. Once the cross bar has been moved to its desired position by the user, the user must manually place both of the bracket members in their locked positions. Thus, the user is presented with the inconvenience of separately locking and unlocking two bracket members whenever the cross bar is to be repositioned.
Some manufacturers of vehicle article carriers have attempted to address this problem by providing means for simultaneously locking and unlocking each bracket member via a single actuating mechanism. One such article carrier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,198 to Cucheran, assigned to the assignee of the present application. While this device has proven to be successful and satisfactory for its intended purpose, the number of independent component parts associated with the apparatus disclosed in this patent make the apparatus somewhat complicated and costly to manufacture and assemble. Other forms of vehicle article carriers which have attempted to incorporate some form of "single-sided" release mechanism for simultaneously locking and unlocking a pair of bracket members to their respective slats have also proven to be complicated and costly to construct.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide a vehicle article carrier which incorporates a means for simultaneously locking and unlocking both bracket members from their respective slats, as well as a means for holding both bracket members in their unlocked positions once one of the bracket members is urged into an unlocked orientation. In this manner, a user would be able to lock and unlock both bracket members from one side of the vehicle and adjust both ends of the cross bar to a new position on the slats without having to hold one of the bracket members in its unlocked orientation. This would add significant convenience to the procedure of repositioning the cross bar.
It would also be highly desirable to provide a vehicle article carrier having a mechanism which enables both bracket members to be simultaneously locked and unlocked, wherein the mechanism has a minimum number of moving parts, and incorporates a design which is relatively simple and cost effective to manufacture and assemble.